Dario Saric Calls Out the Kings After Deadline Trade

The Sacramento Kings made a head-scratching move last offseason when they traded Jonas Valančiūnas to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Dario Šarić. Valanciunas is arguably the best backup center in the NBA, and they shipped him away for a player who would make just five appearances in a Kings uniform.

Šarić, 31, was put into the Kings' lineup in each of their first three games of the 2025-26 season, but would go on to make just two on-court appearances over the next three months. Not to mention, he went scoreless in four of his five games. The Kings ultimately traded him to the Chicago Bulls at the trade deadline. He was then re-routed to the Detroit Pistons and ultimately waived.

Šarić is now out of the NBA and sitting in free agency, but amid the madness, he took a jab at the Kings for how they handled his situation in an interview with Croatia's Jutanjri.

"It's a shame that some people in the NBA, who bring you in, say that you'll have a chance and that you'll play, and then they don't honor that, that things change. You build your life around that story, you bring your family, and it would be better if they told you back in August, 'we don't want you, we're going in a different direction.' And then I fly from Šibenik, come to San Francisco, drive two hours to Sacramento, fall asleep from jet lag, wake up at five in the morning, get a medical, then back to San Francisco and fly back to Europe. They forced me to do that," Šarić said (h/t EuroHoops).

Nov 28, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Dario Saric (20) warms up before the game against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center. | Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

Saric's short stint in Sacramento

Šarić explains how he wishes he had not been misled by the Kings about his role with the team, and is also confused as to why they brought him there in the first place.

“I don’t understand what they thought in August, that I was Wemby, that I would defend everything, and that I would put up roadblocks?! I guess they knew who I was. And that's strange for that level," Šarić said.

It was certainly a head-scratching move at the time, and seemingly just one to save money, but Šarić was never going to have a role in Sacramento. Šarić claims that the Kings told him they would need him, and of course, admitted that it did not work out that way.

"And after everything, the Kings bring me in and say, OK, we need you. But, it doesn't work out that way," Šarić said after explaining how his role with the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets met similar fates.

After a nine-year stint in the NBA, Dario Saric is targeting a return to the EuroLeague 🙌

More about it: https://t.co/ipWwqZkWRQ pic.twitter.com/MtMIEilL4r
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) February 24, 2026

There is a strong chance that his last game in the NBA was in a Kings uniform, as Šarić is now eyeing a move to the EuroLeague. Regardless of how his tenure in the league ended, it is impossible to deny the success of a nine-year NBA career, headlined by his early stint with the Philadelphia 76ers. Unfortunately, he could not make much of an impact in Sacramento.